A call to Perseverence

Hebrews 10: 19-32

Hebrews Sermon 7

A Call to perseverence

Hebrews 10: 19-39

When the writer of this letter undertook the task of addressing the Hebrew Christians it was against the background of the whole of their experience and all of their history throughout generations. Their knowledge of God had taught them that God was a holy God and that access to him was not open to them directly, but only through a mediator — a High Priest, and that only once a year. Even then the High Priest could not linger in the Holy of Holies. You cannot underestimate what a barrier this was to them coming to understand that access to God was now open to them personally and individually.

The writer had demonstrated that Jesus, in his sacrifice and resurrection had removed any barrier that had previously existed between God and his people. We are now living under a new covenant, with Jesus, our High Priest interceding for us.

That’s why he says in Chapter 10:19

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place.

Everything in his letter to this point has focused on the Messiah, the Son of God. Right from the start he has wanted them to understand just who Jesus is. Hebrews 1:1-3

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets ...but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, ... The Son is the radiance of God’s glory

The son who is superior to the angels. Hebrews 1:6

And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,

“Let all God’s angels worship him.”

That Jesus was fully human. Hebrews 2:11

Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.

That Jesus is greater than Moses. Hebrews 3:3

Jesus has been found worthy of greater honour than Moses,

That Jesus is our great High Priest. Hebrews 4:14

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

That he is a priest forever Hebrews 5:6

“You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek

That his priesthood was of a different order and superior to the Levitical priesthood. Hebrews 7:16

one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.

That Jesus gave us a better hope. Hebrews 7.18

The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.

That Jesus is the High Priest of a new and better covenant. Hebrews 8:6

But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.

That Jesus is our mediator. Hebrews 9:15

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

That Jesus willingly become that ransom. Hebrews 10:5-7

Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,

but a body you prepared for me;

with burnt offerings and sin offerings

you were not pleased.

Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—

I have come to do your will, my God.’ ”

We need to keep in mind the situation of the Jewish believers. we find a bit more about that in Hebrews 10:32-35

Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

What had happened in those early days? They used to go daily to the temple. Acts 2:46

Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

That’s how it started out. Then came the persecution. Acts 8:1

That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria.

Now they were excluded from Temple worship. By clinging to the Messiah they were being cut off from God’s chosen people and from the place where God had made his dwelling, and treated as worse than Gentiles. They did not possess the full knowledge of the New Covenant and were in danger of turning back to the old ways. That’s what the writer has been teaching them in this letter to this point.

So he calls them to persevere in the faith. Hebrews 10:19,20

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body.

“We have confidence,” he writes. This confidence comes, not from anything thae we have done or could do. It is based solely on the blood of Jesus, who has done everything for us and on this foundation he calls us to three actions:

First: Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and full assurance of faith.

An astonishing thing to say to all who believed that God was to be feared and could not be approached except through a High Priest. But Christ, as our High Priest has opened up the way for us. More than that, he has made us a holy priesthood.

The reference in verse 22, “having our bodies washed with pure water “ takes us back to the ordination of priests in Exodus 29:4-9

You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and wash them with water. Then you shall take the vestments, and put on Aaron the tunic and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the decorated band of the ephod; and you shall set the turban on his head, and put the holy diadem on the turban. You shall take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head and anoint him. Then you shall bring his sons, and put tunics on them, and you shall gird them with sashes and tie headdresses on them; and the priesthood shall be theirs by a perpetual ordinance. You shall then ordain Aaron and his sons.

This is confirmed in Revelation 1:6

To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

And that vesrse that you all know: 1 Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Second: Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for he who promised is faithful.

Knowing that we have been called out of darkness into his marvelous light, this call is about our place in the world, a world which is hostile to God and those who believe. Our faith is under constant attack and we have a responsibility or duty to resist the devil, to guard against temptation, Many of the writers in the New Testament give similar advice:

1 Peter 2:11

Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul.

James 1:27

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Paul, writing to the Christians at Thessalonica says I Thessalonians 3:5

when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith; I was afraid that somehow the tempter had tempted you and that our labour had been in vain. But Timothy has just now come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love

For he who promised is faithful. Holding fast to the hope we profess is not something we do on our own. We have a faithful God to help us. Here’s what Peter says. 2 Peter 1:3-7

His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature. For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love.

Third:And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

This is what we are doing right now. We know in our hearts that we need each other, to encourage and be encouraged and to play our part as Christians, wherever we live.

In Romans 14;7 Paul writes:

For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone

It is a wonderful thing to be part of a group, large or small, of like-minded Christian believers, who support one another, who look out for each other, who keep each other strong in the faith and who spur each other to good deeds, both inside and outside the community.

The warning, against falling away from the faith that the writer gives in verse 26 may seem out of place, but his concern was particularly for the many Jewish Believers who were under great stress and really were, because of their tribulation, being drawn away despite their earlier confession. These are strong words that needed to be said and they are a warning to us, too, not to take our faith lightly or less that seriously.

In his letter to the Philippian church Paul writes: Philippians.2:12,13

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

We need to fully understand Salvation. Now this is a huge topic that we can’t go into today, but ,briefly, we can look at it as three stages.

First, When you believed the Gospel message: Ephesians 1:3

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal.

Second. Salvation is an ongoing process: 1 Corinthians 1:18

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

2 Corinthians 2:15

For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

Third; It is a future event when we finally reach the goal of heaven. The hope that a Christian looks forward to is ultimate Salvation. We may have trials to go through, but if we hold fast, then God will fulfil his promise to take us to be with him. Philippians 1:27,28

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God.

And the writer to the Hebrews says this in Hebrews1:14

Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

And Hebrews 9:28

so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Salvation is the great reward and that’s why the writer makes this call:

Do not throw away your confidence (v32). Persevere. You will receive what God has promised

The writer quotes the words of the prophet Habakkuk, which his Jewish Christian believers probably knew well and whose situation they could certainly relate to. Just like Habakkuk they were in danger of being overwhelmed by the circumstances in which they found themselves. Just like Habakkuk they were perplexed and couldn’t understand what God was doing, or not doing..

Habakkuk’s cry at the beginning was:Habakkuk 1:2

2 O LORD, how long shall I cry for help,

and you will not listen?

Or cry to you “Violence!”

and you will not save?

God’s reply to Habakkuk, to the Jewish Christians under stress and to us in our time, when we see a fallen world full of corruption and danger was this. Habakkuh 2:3,4

For there is still a vision for the appointed time;

it speaks of the end, and does not lie.

If it seems to tarry, wait for it;

it will surely come, it will not delay.

4 Look at the proud!

Their spirit is not right in them,

but the righteous live by their faith.

As we persevere and wait, what should we do? Like Habakkuk, remember God and pray. Habakkuk 3:2

O LORD, I have heard of your renown,

and I stand in awe, O LORD, of your work.

In our own time revive it;

in our own time make it known;

in wrath may you remember mercy.

We don’t know if Habakkuk’s circumstances changed , but we do know that whatever they were, he was triumphant over them. The verses at the end of his book are well known: Habakkuk 3:18

yet I will rejoice in the LORD;

I will exult in the God of my salvation.

Why was he able to say that: Habakkuk 2:19

GOD, the Lord, is my strength;

When the writer to the Hebrews quotes from Habakkuk his intention is to encourage the faith of his readers and the last verse of Chapter 10 must have been uplifting. Hebrews 10:39

But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

Faith is the Key and the writer is about to strengthen the hearts of his readers with the remarkable record of the men and women in their history who lived their lives by faith.